“No toys in the fish tank” is one of the many rules given throughout this touching portrayal of a little girls’ life with an autistic brother. Catherine, the main character of this book, is a typical child who just wants to make friends and fit in. However, in Catherine’s life, fitting in seems impossible. She is constantly on the move and taking care of her brother, David. David has autism and gives the reader a seemingly accurate view of the type of needs children in his circumstances face. Catherine and David’s parents lead busy lives, often leaving Catherine to be David’s protector and caregiver. This leaves Catherine not only struggling to meet friends, but also feeling neglected from her parents, as their focus always remains with David’s needs. Catherine’s coping mechanisms come into play during the difficult times in the form of “Rules” for David to follow. These rules not only make her life easier, but provide David with the structure he needs and at times desires. The frustration Catherine feels comes to a head at the end of the book with Catherine yelling at her dad saying “I have to matter, too!”. This touching statement gives Catherine’s father a reality check as he replies “You Matter” all while giving Catherine a hug. Overall, the reader gains a glimpse into the world of Autism. However, because Autism is on a spectrum the full view of the various types of Autism is not seen, but what is shown is at least portrayed accurately and in a sensitive way. This makes the book valuable because “insiders” will not be offended in any context and “outsiders” learn from the realism within the story.
All About My Brother – Book Review
All About My Brother, is a book written and illustrated by an eight year old girl, Sarah. She writes from a personal perspective about her seven year old brother, Evan, who has Autism. The book begins not only with a Forward, but also a Preface, and an Introduction. To the regular reader this may seem uncharacteristic of a children’s picture book, but for this particular book it is necessary. The Forward gives the reader a professional’s view on the book, while the Preface and Introduction gives the parental view as they were written by Sarah and Evan’s mother. These three are followed by a page titled “How To Use This Book” which is a 10-step guide on how to use the book to its fullest potential in order to educate others, children in particular, about autism. The part the book that gives a level of authenticity is the pictures, which are all hand drawn by Sarah. As they are a child’s drawings it gives the impression that everyone is human, despite the differences we may have on the inside. The text on the other hand, portrays a level of innocence through the voice of a child but gives off an authentic depiction of what a non-verbal autistic child might be like. At the end of the book, the author Sarah, says “Let’s Stay In Touch” and provides the reader her e-mail address so others who share similar experiences can correspond with her and in addition to this the reader is given pages to draw and write their own stories and experiences with autism. This very personal interaction between the author, reader, and the book in general, gives an indication that it is meant to be used as a guide for a child who is going through similar circumstances, not someone just hoping to learn something about autism. The book is dense with all the added features not typically found in a children’s book, and would need to be presented with an adult to help guide through the extra pages. If this is accomplished a child should gain from its information and have a broader knowledge of autism.
Since We’re Friends – Book Review
Since We’re Friends is a story about two boys, one who has autism and one who does not. The story takes you through the life of the two boys as they begin their summer vacations. They go on many adventures and enjoy much of the same activities, and each time Matt, the boy with Autism, somehow ends up getting upset about something and “since they are friends” the other boy ends up trying to make him feel better. Leading the reader to think; would he not want to make him feel better if they were not friends? The overall basis for the story makes sense; teaching lessons of compassion and understanding from child to child, but this is all masked with the fact that this only happening because the boys are friends. This gives the reader the impression that you only need to be considerate towards those different from you if you are friends with them, if you are not, then it does not really matter. This is even encouraged as Matt is teased in the book by others who are not friends with him. It is obvious the book is trying to teach lessons of empathy and kindness, but it ends up coming out all wrong. Because of this fact, the book does not display the qualities that are meant to be in good multicultural literature.
Characterization of Developmental Disability in Children's Fiction is the title of a scholarly article that brings about many important issues and points in regards to evaluating children’s literature in relation to disabilities; specifically autism.
The very beginning of the article the authors, Tina Dyches and Mary Prater, talk about how until very recently literature that depicts people with special needs has been very offensive. “Stories such as the Grimm Brothers’ Tales showed deformed witches, dwarfs, and giants with physical metaphors to the character’s inner qualities”. (Dyches-Prater 1) These well known stories were very common, but by today’s standards are considered unacceptable and out-dated.
To prove that our society has begun to move on from such stereo-types in literature that authors decided to do a study on 34 children’s literature books that depicted people with special needs. The books were chosen on the basis of two different criteria. The first is that all the books had to include a main or supporting character with a developmental disability and the book had to be fiction. From this, the book went on to be evaluated on many different levels. These levels included “(a) envision high expectations for the character with disabilities, (b) enhance positive contributions, (c) build on strengths, (d) show the person acting on choices, (e) depict expanding reciprocal relationships with others, and (f) ensure that the character with disabilities is afforded the same citizenship rights as others”. (Dyches-Prater 1)
The results were very interesting. Of a total of 36 characters in all of the books who had a disability 26 of them were portrayed positively. To me, this shows that even if we have come far over time in regard to children’s literature there are still books out there that do not promote positive view points on people with special needs. (Dyches-Prater 7) The next portion was to evaluate whether the books had characters that ‘enhanced positive contributions’. The authors mention that most of the books at least allude to the strengths of the characters, but very few of them build off these strengths to add to the plot of the story as a whole. (Dyches-Prater 8). As I think about these results it seems like such a shame because these books could be enhanced so much if the characters with special needs’ strengths could create a story line that not only people could relate to, but also learn from. It is obvious that as a culture we still have a ways to go to create good quality children’s literature about disabilities.
As the study moved on the authors shows that, in a positive note, the majority of the stories did show the characters with disabilities as making their own decisions (criteria (d)), depicting reciprocal relationships, where they and other characters were giving and taking from each other to enhance the plot (criteria (e)), and lastly, that the characters with the disabilities had the same rights as other (criteria (f)). (Dyches-Prater 8)
I think it is great that the majority of the books did well under these categories, but at the same time it is important to note that not all categories were met by all of the books. One book in particular still used the word “touch” which was used in the early 20th century to indicate that he was “touched in the head” or “not normal”. (Dyches-Prater 4) These types of words and phrases still creep their way into literature and are going to affect the way people with special needs view themselves and more so, how they are viewed by society.
The article is concluded in saying that all of the books that were reviewed were “qualified to be considered for the 2002 and 2004 Dolly Gray Award in Children's Literature. This award recognizes high quality children's literature that characterizes individuals with developmental disabilities.” I think this says a lot about how little our society knows about ‘good’ children’s literature in regards to special needs. These books, in the authors’ opinions were decent, yet lacked a lot of qualities that exemplify positive and realistic characters, in order to promote an optimistic outlook on people who have special needs. (Dyches-Prater 13)
As I finished reading this article I had to agree with the authors. We have come a long way from the Grimm Brother’s Tales, but there is still a long way to go. Children’s literature that portrays characters with special needs has to be looked at and evaluated carefully so that we are not showing society an inaccurate portrayal of how people with special needs should be treated. It is my hope, as a future educator, that I too can be diligent in evaluating children’s literature because the choices I make will affect my students’ views on the world, and in turn societies.
Book Reflection
The way disabilities are portrayed within children’s literature has come a long way over the past few years. It is obvious now that authors are showing autism in a positive light. This is one of the common themes I saw within the three books that I reviewed. All of the characters were shown that they can do things that everyone else can do and their disabilities are not slowing them down. To me, this is very important because it will give society a chance to see that people with disabilities do not need pity, but they are like anyone else, but they have certain things they may struggle with.
Another common theme I saw from the books I reviewed is that all of them were told from the view point of a friend or sibling of someone with autism. To me, this shows that the main targets for selling these books are to people who live their lives around people with autism. However, these types of books give them a very personal feeling which helps the reader relate to the situation as well as learn from it.
Lastly, the books that I reviewed all used appropriate language when it came to referring to those with disabilities. None of the books came across offensive or used outdated terms such as “retarded” or “handicapped”. I think this is very important when it comes to picking good children’s literature, not only because this will affect how people view those with disabilities, but it will teach others the correct terminology so they know how to be appropriate.
Overall, I see the strengths within the books that I reviewed, but I also there is room for growth. As time goes on, it is my hope to see more quality books available to children in regards to disabilities. I believe through this process, stereotypes and improper words will lessen through society and a new light will be shed on the positive aspects regarding people with disabilities and how they live their every day lives.
Dyches, Tina, Mary Prater. "Characterization of Developmental Disability." 2005 1-16. Web.4 May 2009.
Lord, Cynthia. Rules.
Peralta, Sarah. All About My Brother. 1.
Print.
Shally, Celeste. Since We're Friends.
